Are Sony SACD Machine Owners Crazy??

Frap......thank you! You are so right, and this has been
my point. We may be able to buy great pre-amps, power amps,
cables...and speakers, but without great source components
much of our efforts are lost. Why labor over choices
in the rest of our systems..and debate the tube vs. solid-
state, CJ vs. ARC, Krell vs. Levinson..etc., if we are
placing a $1.00 OP-AMP in the chain? An OP-AMP is a kind
way of saying..big IC chip..integrated circuit. Even the
best are not up to real tube and real transistors..they
are a cost saving device...and until we start getting
source components with excellent audio sections...we are
running in circles.
How can we debate formats, tube vs. transistor, dynamic
vs planer/electrostat..etc...when somewhere in the path of
the signal we place a one or two buck OP-AMP?

According to Robert Harley in isssue 120 of The Absolute Sound the SCD-1 and 777ES DO NOT use op-amps.

To quote RH directly:
"Commendably, the analog output stage is an all-discrete design(no op-amps)."
Issue 120, p. 36.

An additional quote may help clear up some misconceptions:

"Two transformers supply power to the unit, one for the analog circuits, one for everything else. The SCD-1 has more power supply regulation than I've seen in a Japanese product, and even uses discrete regulation rather than IC regulators. Moreover, the analog output stage has additional on-board discrete regulation and power-supply filtering right next to the audio circuits. This a decidedly High End design technique"

"This is clearly an engineering-driven product designed to show the SACD format in its best light, not a product dictated by the marketing department. In fact. the SCD-1 is perhaps the tweakiest product I've seen from a large Japanese company."

The Absolute Sound, Issue 120, pp. 36-37

According to Robert Harley in isssue 120 of The Absolute Sound the SCD-1 and 777ES DO NOT use op-amps.

To quote RH directly:
"Commendably, the analog output stage is an all-discrete design(no op-amps)."
Issue 120, p. 36.

One thing that's very obvious from looking at the current high-end audio landscape is that there is a distinct lack of agreement as to what constitutes a good design. Tube vs. solid state, planar vs. dynamic drivers, no feedback vs. high feedback gain stages, cloth vs. metal dome tweeters, minimalist straight wire with gain vs. massive DSP based circuits -- the list goes on. Talented equipment designers are able to make superb sounding equipment based upon any of these design principals. As witnessed by a recent article in Stereophile and some of the above posts, there is a bias against op-amps in audiophile oriented equipment. However, Boulder, a high-end company if there ever was one, makes extensive use of op-amps. Should we dismiss the validity of Boulder designs because of this? I think not! As listeners, maybe we should pay less attention to circuit design and more to sound quality. I wonder how many of us are truly qualified to discuss the intricacies of circuit design?

BTW, I have a Sony SACD player and for normal CD playback I use an outboard DAC.